POLI151 Final Flashcards
1875 Supreme Court Act
The 1875 Supreme Court Act was when Parliament used its power under section 101 to create the Supreme Court of Canada. This outlined how the Supreme Court has the authority to hear appeals from provincial courts of appeal, from the Federal Court of Canada, and from the Federal Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court of Canada was not fully powerful until after WWII when Canada received a blessing from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (which was the British court that was above the Supreme Court of Canada prior to 1949) to abolish the right to appeal to the JCPC.
Adjudication of cases
Adjudication is the legal process of determining who is right in private law cases. The regime will employ various methods to adjudicate private disputes. The methods include negotiation, mediation (bringing in a third party), and arbitration. These informal means of adjudication are less expensive and speedier than the judicial process, but the effectiveness is dependant on whether disputants know that unresolved cases will be taken to courts.
Judges and commissions of inquiry
Commissions of inquiry are when Provincial or Federal governments appoint judges to form commissions of inquiry into potential wrongdoing by the state or by pressing public policy issues. Examples include the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Equality before the law
Equality before the law is the Canadian assumption that nobody is above the law and that the law treats all Canadians fairly. This isn’t always true because those with more financial power have access to better lawyers because of the high cost of hiring a lawyer. A better expensive lawyer will absolutely make a difference in court especially in cases where a wealthy individual is against a less financially powerful citizen who must rely on a lawyer who was given to them by the state.
Gladue courts
Gladue courts were the result of a Supreme Court ruling that dictates that the criminal code allows judges to use more restoring options, which include all other options than imprisonment, when sentencing Indigenous Canadians. This was a result of the Supreme Court recognizing the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in Canadas prison system. Multiple Gladue courts have been set up across Canada since this ruling.
Governor General
The person in Canada who is appointed executive power by the monarch and carries out the duties and responsibilities of the monarchy. The Governor General is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada and usually serves for five years. Their duty includes making sure government is always in place and chooses the leader of the party with the majority of the seats in the House of Commons. The Governor General must approve all legislation and executive decisions recommended by the Prime Minister. The Governor General does have the autonomy to dissolve parliament which results in a new election or the ability to prorogue parliament which ends the parliamentary session.
Judicial Impartiality
Judicial impartiality is one of the leading principles that all Canadian judges must express. Its goal is to ensure that all trials are fair and that judges hold no prejudice while making rulings. Ways in which impartiality is ensured is by the adversarial nature of Canadian courts and that judges do not speak on public matters even while outside of the court.
House of Commons Committees
House of Commons committees are in charge of examining bills and proposing amendments based on what they observe. Their composition is based off a reflection of the House, with the leader of the committee coming from the current ruling party and the rest of the membership being built to reflect the house. This is not always the case however some committees are led by members of the opposition, these committees include the Privacy and Ethics Committee which examines the spending of the government.
Judicial Review
Judicial review is the authority of the courts to strike down legislation or government action that the courts deem unconstitutional. There are two types of judicial review, the first is Abstract: When elected officials request a ruling on the constitutionality of a bill or law that was passed by the legislature. The second is concrete: When the court considers a case that questions the constitutionality of a law already in place. Judicial review was made important in Canada after the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was included in CA1982. In North America, judicial review is carried out by the Supreme Court. While in many European countries including Germany, Austria, and France, they have special courts set up to conduct judicial review.
Judicial Independence
In the Canadian judiciary, Judges must be separate from the executive branch to ensure their independence, one of the leading judicial principles. In order to ensure the independence of judges from the executive, judges hold high job security, salaries are fixed by law, and they cannot control the workings of the court. Judicial independence is so important that often times a judge won’t accept a call from any members of the executive in order to avoid accusations that they are in the pocket of a politician.
Removal of judges
Removal of judges varies in difficulty depending on the level of judge. High-ranking judges are harder to remove than low-ranking judges. The first step before removal of a judge is an inquiry. The groups responsible for the inquiry changes depending on the level of the judge. Provincial judicial council inquires upon provincially appointed judges while the Canadian Judicial Council does the same but for federally appointed judges. The removal of high level judges is extremely rare.
Section 92 and 96 courts
Sections 92 and 96 courts are outlined in the 1867 Constitution Act. Both are relevant to the formation of Canadian courts. Section 92 courts are provincial courts set up by the province with provincially appointed and paid for judges. They deal with things like family matters and traffic violations. Section 96 courts are superior and appeal courts that are set up by the province with federally appointed and paid judges. They deal with more serious criminal cases.
Section 101 courts
Section 101 courts are outlined in the 1867 constitution act. Section 101 courts are federal courts set up by and paid for by the federal government. This includes the General Court of Appeal, in other words, The Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court itself wasn’t covered in CA 1867 but was mentioned in CA 1982.
Senate reform
The Canadian Senate has been criticized as being appointed, unequal, and ineffective. This has resulted in calls for senate reform. Senate reform includes three options: abolition, reform ( turning the senate into an elected, equal, and effective senate), or status quo (leaving it as is). The previous federal government aimed to make senators hold maximum terms of 9 years and have them be elected by the provinces. But the Supreme Court ruled that in order to do so, a constitutional amendment of 7 provinces voting in agreement with half the population voting in agreement. The federal government at the time abandoned the reform.
